Singapore Food Trail @ Singapore Flyer

Ice Kachang

I have always wanted to visit the Singapore Food Trail, which is a 1960s themed food street at Singapore Flyer and Food Republic Beer Garden at Harbourfront when they opened in early 2011. There was much hype when they opened but it seemed to have died down.
 


Before this, our visit to the Food Republic Beer Garden was disappointing as only a few stalls were opened on a weekend evening and the customers were sparse.

 
In fact, I have forgotten about this place until I chanced upon an ongoing promotion through its Facebook page recently. One item from each stall was at $2.50 instead of $5--cheaper than those at most Food Republic food courts. Since there are substantial savings, I decided why not head there for a try?

 
When we arrived, there were visibly more diners than the one at Beer Garden, but not crowded. Starting from the Old Airport Road Satay Bee Hoon Stall, I flashed the FB e-voucher to the uncle. "Ni mei you print chu lai ar" the uncle said and I pointed out the instructions on the fb page. The friendly uncle accepted and relayed my orders to another uncle in charge of cooking.
 

A copy of the discount booklet

Later, he was very nice to give me two books of coupons, asking me to help promote the place to others as the business was struggling. Hmm, but going back to his food...

 
The noodles of the Satay Bee Hoon ($2.50) are well-strained so it was not too wet. More of that piquant gravy would be wonderful. Apparently, the stall that began since 1950s is famous for its gravy made from 15 ingredients, but lard is no longer used.

 
The East Coast Lagoon Rojak was the star of that day. To be honest, we liked it more than the Kover Rojak because the sauce had the right consistency and a well-balance sweet and tangy taste. The best thing was the you tiao (dough fritters) which stayed fresh and crunchy till the end.

 
Instead of Sambal stingray, we ordered the Yang Zhou Fried Rice from Boon Tat Street BBQ since it was the dish on offer at $2.50. Nonetheless, the rice was fluffy and spicy, with a strong whiff of wok hei.

 
From the Bugis Street Ah Huat Hainanese Chicken Rice stall, we ordered half-a-chicken instead of the $2.50 plate of chicken rice as the Folks wanted more meat. The meat was tender and good, but not much different from those outside.



Conclusion: Food here are delicious and it is a relief to see that most stalls are still manned by Singaporeans--the owners or their relatives. Price wise, they are similar to Food Republic without using the discounts.

But many of the stalls were either closed (eg. Ann Chin Popiah ) or had permanently stopped operations. With an air of gloomy atmosphere among the hawkers, I hoped that the online promotions (till May 31st) can help to improve the business. But whether such concepts are sustainable in the long run remain a question.

Various dishes are going at $2.50. Check out their FB page for the e-vouchers.

Singapore Food Trail @Singapore Flyer

30 Raffles Avenue
#01-09/12

Mon - Thu: 10:30 am - 10:30 pm

Fri - Sat: 10:30 am - 11:30 pm

www.singaporefoodtrail.com.sg/index.php